November 19, 2003
Dolores Beasley
Headquarters, Washington
(Phone: 202/358-1753)
Tracy Young
Kennedy Space Center, Fla.
(Phone: 321/867-2468)
RELEASE: 03-373
NASA'S GATEWAY TO SPACE FOR LIFE SCIENCE RESEARCH DEDICATED TODAY
The Space Life Sciences (SLS) Laboratory was dedicated today in a
ceremony hosted by NASA's Kennedy Space Center (KSC) and the state of
Florida.
The 100,000 square-foot facility houses labs for NASA's ongoing
research efforts, microbiology/microbial ecology studies and
analytical chemistry labs. Facilities for space flight-experiment and
flight-hardware development, new plant growth chambers, and an
Orbiter Environment Simulator that will be used to conduct ground
control experiments in simulated flight conditions for space flight
experiments also call the new lab home.
Lt. Governor Toni Jennings said, "Today we celebrate the dedication of
the new Space Life Sciences Lab and a new era in education and
economic partnership. This new facility will greatly benefit
Florida's university community." Jennings is chair of the Florida
Space Authority's Board of Supervisors. Invited guests included
dignitaries, government representatives and partners.
"The SLS Lab provides NASA's gateway to space with operations and
research capability to effectively use the International Space
Station and take full advantage of research and commercialization
opportunities," said KSC Director Jim Kennedy. "It provides a meeting
place for our partners in research to work together. We anticipate
researchers from around the world performing investigations in the
SLS Lab, addressing key issues in biological sciences, enabling
improved life on earth and long duration space flight," he said.
The facility, completed in August of this year, represents a
partnership between NASA and the state of Florida. The state, through
Florida Space Authority, built the research laboratory. The facility
is part of a $30 million project that also includes Space Commerce
Way, the new public roadway providing 24-hour access to International
Space Research Park.
The Florida Space Authority Director, Captain Winston Scott, said,
"This new facility represents a new way of doing business to advance
the 'state of Space.' The only way we'll continue to do that in the
future is through partnerships of this kind."
Kennedy Space Center, in partnership with Florida Space Authority, is
developing the International Space Research Park at KSC. The SLS Lab,
formerly known as the Space Experiment Research and Processing
Laboratory or SERPL, provides space for NASA's Life Sciences Services
contractor Dynamac Corporation, Bionetics Corporation, and
researchers from the University of Florida. NASA's Office of
Biological and Physical Research will use the facility for processing
life sciences experiments that will be conducted on the International
Space Station. The SLS Lab is the magnet facility for the Research
Park.
Space Commerce Way also connects NASA Causeway and Kennedy Parkway to
provide a throughway to the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Center and
the Astronaut Hall of Fame.
For more information on space research, visit:
http://spaceresearch.nasa.gov/
-end-